€172 million in funding available for Trans-European Transport Network infrastructure projects

The European Commission launched today three new calls for proposals, making an additional €172 million of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) budget available to finance European transport infrastructure projects. Funding opportunities are to be found under the TEN-T annual programme and multi-annual programme. The Trans-European Transport Network Executive Agency (TEN-T EA), which manages the technical and financial implementation of the TEN-T programme, is responsible, on behalf of the Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport, for the management of the calls for proposals and for the external evaluation of project proposals submitted.

Commission Vice-President Siim Kallas, responsible for transport, said: "The TEN-T programme is today launching calls for proposals making available an additional €172 million of the TEN-T budget to fund key projects of European added value. These include projects in the fields of motorways of the sea and river information services, under the multi-annual programme. In addition, the annual programme has been fine-tuned in 2010 to allow us to prepare for future transport priorities, notably making transport greener, and to increase the participation of private partners in infrastructure projects. This funding complements the €7.16 billion which has already been allocated under the 2007–13 TEN-T programme to around 300 projects covering all transport modes — air, rail, road and maritime/sea, plus logistics and intelligent transport systems — involving all EU Member States."

These calls for proposals have been established under two separate work programmes:

1. The 2010 multi-annual work programme aims to finance the highest priorities of the TEN-T network. This year's multi-annual call focuses on two fields:

This funding is in addition to the call for proposals in the field of air traffic management systems and functional airspace blocks (ATM/FABs) which closed on 30 April 2010, with a maximum budget of €20 million.

2. The 2010annual work programme complements the efforts developed under the multi-annual work programme. Unlike in previous years, it is focused on three priorities:

Priority 1: Promoting the development of an integrated and environmentally friendly transport system (up to €30 million);

Priority 2: Accelerating/facilitating the implementation of TEN-T projects (studies for all modes, works for mature projects, notably in the rail and inland waterways sectors), as well as projects supporting the Single European Sky policy (up to €40 million);

The TEN-T Executive Agency will host a TEN-T information day on 31 May and 1 June 2010 in Brussels, to help potential applicants prepare their proposals. On the first day of this event, information will be provided about the calls and the evaluation process. The second day focuses on project finance in general and PPPs in particular, with a view to encouraging potential applicants to consider assessing their projects for PPP feasibility.

The deadline for the submission of proposals is 31 August 2010. Proposals will be evaluated on the basis of their relevance to TEN-T priorities and policy objectives, their maturity, their impact – particularly socio-economic and environmental – and their quality in terms of completeness, clarity, soundness and coherence.